The University of Kentucky Research and Education Center in Princeton hopes to optimize drone-based spray systems to improve access to effective management of foliar diseases in Kentucky cornfields.
This multi-departmental effort of Plant Pathology and Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at the UK Martin Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, has completed year two of its study, supported by the Kentucky Corn Growers Association, and plans to share the results with farmers through a workshop in late February.
According to plant pathology specialist and principal investigator Kiersten Wise, their previous research found that drones are a viable fungicide application option for farmers, especially in smaller fields that cannot be accessed by manned aircraft due to trees or other obstacles. If left untreated, corn foliar diseases can cost Kentucky corn growers nearly $15 per acre.
“Our 2019 on-farm research conducted with Cooperative Extension agents in several counties indicated that foliar fungicides applied by a drone at tasseling and early silking can effectively manage gray leaf spot in corn when using recommended spray carrier volumes,” she said. “Once we learned that drone fungicide applications can be effective at managing foliar diseases, we had even more questions about how to optimize these applications.”
Improved technology and an increase in demand for commercial drone fungicide applications prompted Wise and precision agriculture specialist Tim Stombaugh, Ph.D., to determine how drones compare to traditional high-clearance ground-driven spray equipment and how factors like flight speed and height influence spray coverage and deposition.
“Just in the last couple of years, the amount of corn acres that are sprayed by drones has exploded,” Wise said. “Farmers who may have contracted high-clearance equipment or helicopters and airplanes to apply fungicides are now using drones. And this is not just in Kentucky. It’s a national trend.”
Maximum sprayer swath widths are provided for each type of drone, but Stombaugh points out there is limited replicated research data on the reliability of these recommendations.
“Our research has shown that the actual swath width, or how much corn the drone covers in each pass, might be different than what the manufacturer says,” he noted. “Swath width is also going to be based on factors such as application speed and height, and environmental factors such as wind speed.”
Read the full report at https://graincrops.mgcafe.uky.edu/corn.
ACTIONS, Production Agriculture, agriculture products, corn, drones, farm production, farm products, grains, spraying Gilkison Farms used a DJI Crop Spraying Drone on a cornfield outside Winchester, Ky.
- Matt Barton | UK College of Agriculture
